2001 Renault Laguna Expression 1.6 petrol from Greece

Summary:

Faults:

The air conditioning temperature sensor presents frequent problems so I have to switch to manual. It has been "calibrated" twice with no results.

The power steering lost all of the hydraulics at 25,000 km.

The tachometer malfunctioned at 20,000 km.

The whole instrument panel presented problems at 23,000 km. It has been fixed twice, but is has just died on me again.

The ball joint of the front left wishbone was replaced at 37,000 km.

There is some play of the rack & pinion.

General Comments:

This is a very comfortable and safe vehicle. I drive fast & turn hard everyday going to work and back and the Laguna simply flies! It corners like a sports car without the hassle. It really handles like it's on rails, much better than my previous Peugeot 306.

The quality of build though is very poor. At 38,000 km, 18 months of ownership and absolutely no accidents, the car has been in for service for a total of ten working days, which is in my opinion unacceptable.

It feels better than the Peugeot, but if it goes on causing me trouble. I'll ditch and and never buy any French car again.

23rd Jul 2003, 07:06

OK, I'm the owner of this Laguna with news.

The dealer kept the car in for 3 days and finally replaced the whole dashboard panel due to a faulty chip. Even though the car was out of warranty, they covered it because the fault had appeared within the warranty period.

They also replaced the other wishbone too because that ball joint had a problem as well. Also for free.

A new problem now! They steering wheel lost the hydraulic fluid again!!! I am taking it in to the dealer later on this week once more...

The Renault people are friendly, but this car is starting to give me the creeps...

2001 Renault Laguna Expression 1.6 from UK and Ireland

Summary:

Faults:

The tyre sensors showing pressure fault every time road conditions were wet. Sensor housing was found to be cracked. Also had 2 sensors fail completely.

Rear brake disks and pads had to be replaced at 13000 miles. The problem was only noticed when I had to replace all four tyre and the garage fitting them noticed very bad corrosion on the disk surface.

The car went in for its 18000 mile service and I reported to the dealer that the air conditioning was not working.

When I went to collect the car they said that they had topped up the gas in the air conditioning system. The next day was very warm so I switched on the air conditioning and was blasted by warm air! I contacted the dealer and they booked the car in some days later. After another inspection they said that all the gas had gone and that there must be a leak. They needed a dye to pass through the system to highlight the area of the leak.

The car was booked in again a week later. The dealership then phoned me to say that the dye had shown that there was damage to the condenser unit at the front of the radiator. They said that it had been hit by a stone or similar object and that because it was damage it would not be covered by the warranty. They estimated that the total cost to repair the system would be £700.

Unhappy with the result I contacted Renault customer services and explained the problem. They took my details and were pretty unhelpful. I was told that a decision would be made by a manager later in the day. I asked to speak with the manager, but was told that I could not.

The following day I received a call from the dealership saying that a decision had been made not to repair the system under warranty. I was also told that if I got the unit repaired no modifications would be done to stop objects hitting the condenser again. So I could drive 500 yards and get another stone in the condenser and would have to pay for the repair again!

General Comments:

I have owned several Renault cars, which I have been very happy to drive.

The Laguna looks a stunning car with lots of advanced features with have been poorly implemented. If a simple piece of mesh could stop a very expensive repair it makes you wonder what other poor design features are going to come to light as the cars become older.

8th Sep 2003, 00:25

Just an update on this review.

I have since exchanged the motor from hell and am a happy owner of a Honda Accord VTEC sport. Which has no where near the same amount of gadgets, but everything does exactly what you ask of it. Three months on and not a single fault to report build quality superb as are the dealers. Renault should take a look at how things should be done in these areas.